European Union

Back at the end of June, I shared the insights of French political philosopher Pierre Manent about the significance of Brexit (which he was for). Yesterday, the good folks at First Things posted a translation of a recent interview Manent gave to the Italian newspaper Il Foglio about the lessons of the recent Islamist attack on the French church. There’s one especially arresting question and answer that sounds like it »

Earlier this month we reported here (“Brexit Vote: Italy Hardest Hit?“) about how Italy was the nation to watch in the aftermath of Brexit, as it had the weakest financial profile among EU nations after Greece. Tomorrow Italy will report the results of its “stress tests” of its banks, and if the results are as dismal as expected, it may trigger the next Eurozone political crisis, and the next chapter »

The migrant crisis is thought to be the chief precipitating event behind the shocking UK Brexit vote outcome, along with the general sense that the European Union and its ever expanding bureaucracy and high-handed intrusiveness is becoming intolerable. But remember that the decision to hold a referendum in Britain was made three years ago, after several years of agitation by EU critics, who are not limited to just the UK. »

There’s just so much good material on Brexit piling up that it can’t wait for Saturday. So here’s “Brexit Week in Pictures.” Enjoy! And finally (okay, so there’s no gun, but this is close enough for Brexit work, as it explains why Brexit won): »

It has been great fun watching Nigel Farage flay the European Parliament these last few years usually to looks of derision, and here he is today taking a well-earned victory lap in front of his future former colleagues, who are not amused—so much so that the speaker of the parliament has to tell the crowd to settle down. (I especially like “I know that virtually none of you have ever »

We’ve already had plenty of coverage here about the elite left’s unhinged whingeing about the Brexit vote, and I predict the Brexit vote will become for Europolitans what the sainted Citizens United decision is for lefties here in the U.S—a source of perpetual rage and blame for everything that bothers them about human existence in the 21st century. I had thought that the scare campaign would succeed, and indeed between »

This Wall Street Journal story this morning about how the Brexit vote unfolded in the Labour Party stronghold of Sunderland wins Power Line’s Understatement of the Year Award. Keep in mind that it was the Labour government under Tony Blair that pushed for expanded immigration to bolster the ranks of Labour voters, just as Democrats in the U.S. want expanded immigration to swell the ranks of Democratic voters: SUNDERLAND, England—Labour politician »

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is now serving the twelfth year of his four-year term. He is an absurd and contemptible figure. In a perfectly timed companion to the Brexit referendum, Abbas had the honor of addressing the European Parliament this past Thursday. Abbas drew a standing ovation for his EU speech. In the course of his remarks Abbas accused (mythical) Israeli rabbis of “demanding” that the Israeli government poison »

Gerard Baker of the Wall Street Journal offers the best summary this morning of the larger meaning of Brexit. Gerry, as his friends and colleagues call him, is a subdued fellow not given to hyperbole, which is why this judgment is so bracing: Levels of dissatisfaction with leadership have reached revolutionary levels. It’s a paradox of mass modern democracy that voters feel themselves governed by rulers who “neither see nor »

Yesterday was a big news day before any Brexit votes had been counted. Two major Supreme Court decisions, one of which voided a core Obama legacy item, plus the collapse of the Freddie Gray prosecutions. But with the Brexit vote, yesterday became historic. On this, I think both sides of the argument agree. I agree with Scott that by voting to leave the EU the British people have retaken their »

I never did understand the case for Britain’s continued membership in the European Union. Barack Obama’s threat against Brexit — issued at the invitation of Prime Minister Cameron, no less, and perhaps scripted by Ben Rhodes — made for a clarifying moment. Is Barack Obama a friend of Great Britain? I don’t think so. If one hesitated to make the leap to Leave, that should have sealed the deal all »

Wow. That’s all I can say right now. I’ve been out all evening, among other things watching a socialist argue vigorously with an even further left socialist, which allowed me to grab an extra bag of popcorn and enjoy the show. It’s like watching your ex-wife argue with your ex-mother-in-law. Brexit is Britain’s equivalent of Proposition 13 and the tax revolt of the 1970s in the U.S. I expect anti-EU »

Early results on Brexit show a very tight contest, with Leave and Remain going back and forth in the lead like the Warriors and Cavaliers in Game 7. But less than 4 percent of the vote has been counted as of this moment, and none of the London area vote has come in yet, and I suspect that it will be strongly in the Remain camp. Stay tuned. . . »

I’m on the road the last half of this week, though I shall be checking in later on likely with some Power Line “minicasts” with notable thinkers attending the same conference where I’m turning up. Suffice it to say in one sentence that tomorrow’s Brexit vote in Britain is one of the most important political events of the last generation, as this is no ordinary referendum election. Late polls show »

MEP Daniel Hannan is an eloquent orator. In the video below (about 12 minutes), Hannan makes the case for putting himself out of a job in Thursday’s referendum on Great Britain’s continued membership in the European Union. To say “Hannan makes the case” is a pitiful understatement. He is brilliant. As Jack Fowler says at NR’s Corner: “Watch, learn, enjoy.” Stick with this one till the end. Hannan concludes with »

I wrote here about the British Left’s disgraceful effort to make political hay out of the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by a mentally ill man. Pro-EU forces are trying to somehow tie the murder to the “Brexit” side of the EU debate. While I considered the attempt contemptible, I wasn’t at all sure that it wouldn’t work. (The parallels to similar issues in the U.S. are obvious.) But »

To Brexit or not to Brexit, that is the question addressed by Douglas Murray in “Exit Britain?” (National Review) and by Christopher Caldwell in “See you, EU?” (Weekly Standard). What is Brexit? Brexit is shorthand for the question whether Britain should leave the European Union, the question submitted to the British electorate by referendum on June 23. Don’t stop reading yet! The question raises issues that concern us every bit »